Chris Baty
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chrisbaty.bsky.social
Chris Baty
@chrisbaty.bsky.social
620 followers 230 following 92 posts
Writer, former word nerd at Figma, and founder of NaNoWriMo.

Doing NaNoWriMo this fall? Check out www.nano2.org!

🏝️Alameda, CA
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chrisbaty.bsky.social
Handpainted sign by www.analogsigns.com
Handpainted sign that reads "Novels written while you wait"
November 3, 2025 at 10:16 PM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
Spotted in a window in Fort Bragg, CA.
“Make more art” is screenprinted on a piece of sheet music.
October 13, 2025 at 3:38 PM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
Newbie cat parent with a question. We adopted two strays a few months ago—a mom and her orange tabby son.

Every time they see us they act like they haven't eaten in weeks, so we've been feeding them 3 times a day. That's too much, right? We want to dial it back, but we fear their hangry wrath.
Orange tabby kitten sprawled across a chair smiles up at the camera.
October 9, 2025 at 6:41 PM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
I discovered travel sites ARE showing higher per-night room prices to people they think are in SF vs. KC.

But the total costs for the booking end up being the same regardless of location. Everyone pays the same after taxes and fees are included.

Weird, right? Examples below...
A screenshot showing side by side comparisons of New York hotel costs on Hotwire and Expedia. For the same hotel, the per-night costs shown to someone browsing from the San Francisco Bay Area are higher than the costs shown to someone browsing from Kansas City. But the total costs of the stay, including taxes and fees, are also shown, and they are exactly the same for people regardless of where they're browsing from.
January 19, 2025 at 1:03 AM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
A drawing of an old van parked in front of a night club. The van has the name of the beloved weather app Hello Weather painted on the side.
December 20, 2024 at 5:37 AM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
Just learned PLOS ONE rejected my paper on the implications of different apple-sticker disposal techniques.

Thanks to everyone who took the survey! To get around the gatekeepers in Big Science, I’m releasing the findings for peer review and/or MacArthur Fellowship consideration below.
A 3 by 3 moral alignment chart showing different categories for people based on what they do with the stickers on their apples. The headline says "A sticky dilemma" and the subhead says "Or: How I Built The World’s First Data-Informed Moral Alignment Chart By Asking Well Over 3 People on Bluesky What They Do With Those Barcode Stickers Before Eating a Honeycrisp or What Have You. The entries in the chart are: Lawful good: Throw the sticker in the trash can Neutral good: Put the sticker on your shirt Chaotic good: Put the sticker on a loved one Lawful neutral: Put the sticker on the trash can True neutral: Put the sticker on the kitchen counter Chaotic neutral: Put the sticker on a pet Lawful evil: Put the sticker on a different apple Neutral evil: Wash the sticker down the drain Chaotic evil: Feed the sticker to a neighbor
December 10, 2024 at 4:53 PM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
Could you help me settle an argument?

The scenario: You’re in the kitchen, about to eat an apple. You peel this sticker off it.

Where does the sticker go next?

A. The trash
B. Your shirt
C. The counter
D. Elsewhere (please explain)
A bar code sticker from a honeycrisp apple stuck to a finger.
December 4, 2024 at 5:38 AM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
A year ago when we were putting away our Christmas stuff, we wrote up some hopes and predictions for 2024, along with a quick sketch of our day-to-day lives. Then we sealed it in an envelope and slipped it into a box with our stockings.

Last night we opened The Envelope.
A piece of paper titled "Predictions for 2024" rests on top of an unsealed envelope with "Predictions for 2024!" handwritten on it. The photo is cropped so you can only read a few fragments of text on the paper. "It's New Year's Day and we just put...." "...rearrange the couch and rug. Tomorrow..."
November 30, 2024 at 7:47 PM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
I just unearthed a 1990 photo collage of my high school bedroom.

Dang! So many Gen X alterna-teen artifacts.

-Floating heads of Robert Smith and Paul Westerberg!
-Commodore Amiga to post on @sgranger.bsky.social’s BBS named after two “Life in Hell” characters!
-B&W TV brought up from the basement!
A black and white photo collage of a 1990 teen bedroom. The walls are covered in posters and flyers for alternative bands like the Cure, New Order, Camper Van Beethoven, the Replacements, and Husker Du. A pine box of cassette tapes hangs above the bed. There’s a desk next to the bed that has a computer and large clunky monitor on it. Across the room, a small black and white TV sits on a cabinet. Piles of dirty spill out over the carpeted floor.
November 19, 2024 at 6:14 PM
chrisbaty.bsky.social
Hi! My name is Chris.
​​
​​I’m a writer who founded NaNoWriMo many moons ago and ran it until 2012. I’ve spent the last decade doing UX writing, most recently at Figma.

I’m currently taking some time off to finish a novel and figure out where to hang this majestic oil painting. Nice to meet you!
A photo of me grinning while holding a framed oil painting of a white-bearded sea captain smoking a pipe. Far off in the background of the painting is an old-timey full-rigged ship with sails a’flutter. Is it the best painting in the world? Yes, it probably is.
November 14, 2024 at 9:05 PM